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Hi guys, we are currently transferring from one host to another so things may be a bit wonky for a day or two. We’ll soon get everything loaded and cleaned up. You know what a chore moving can be. And yes, we are accepting housewarming presents.

Chick 2 can explain this better than I but for our loyal readers who are wondering, “What is lens flare and why should I care?” I will attempt to explain.

Flare is what happens when light reflects within the lens. This happens when a light source (other than the light that is bouncing off your image) enters the camera and refracts off the glass. That’s one reason you don’t normally shoot directly toward a light.

For those of you wondering flare looks like, here are some helpful examples:

Notice something about these pictures. Yes, they are both from Star Trek. And they’re just the tip of the iceburg.

In the last decade or so, it’s become more and more popular to use lens flare on purpose. It can be used for a variety of reasons; like making a film feel “real” or documentary-like or emphasizing how hot or bright a light source is in the story. (You often see this technique in a “lost in the desert” scene when someone looks up at the sun.) And when creating a fake environment (like a computer generated scene in space) details like flare can make that CG environment more believable.

Now I loved Star Trek. I thought it was the best summer movie of 2009. But the flare in that movie was waaay over the top. Early in the movie, I did like it. I thought that having a lot of flare did help set the mood, make the space scenes cool, and even give the film its own style. But it made it very hard to see the action. Check out those photos again. See how fuzzy it looks. During the movie, I found myself squinting to try and see what was going on. (Didn’t work.)

I get it. I get it. There are a lot of bright lights on the ship and a lot of shooting into suns & stars (yes, I realize they are the same things) so naturally there will be some flare but if I can’t actually see the film, there’s a problem.

So what is lens flare? – light refracting through a lens

And why should I care? – Lens flare can be used purposefully to either enhance a story or obscure that story.

Discuss.

PS. I still love you, JJ Abrams, and I would like to carry your briefcase and follow you around for a couple of years.

Here’s a tidbit for Chick 2. There still may be another Lemony Snicket movie. Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of children’s books. In 2004 a movie of the same name was released starring Jim Carrey, directed by Brad Siberling, and based upon the first 3 books in the series. I had read several of the books and enjoyed them but didn’t know if they could be adapted. Read more

Oh joy! The first trailer from Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes was released yesterday. We already knew that this was not going to be your usual Holmes whodunit. With Robert Downey Jr cast as Holmes, Jude Law as Watson, and Ritchie at the helm, this was going to be a grittier and probably funnier Holmes. I was expecting something dark & brooding but with an underlying humor but after the trailer debuted at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin in March, the buzz said that this was more of a buddy comedy. It is definitely very un-Holmes but I think it looks like fun. It certainly may offend Holmes purists. See for yourself. Trailer will play with Terminator Salvation this weekend. The movie opens Christmas 2009.

I didn’t know whether to put this post under I Can’t Wait! or Casting Notes since I don’t really know a lot about this movie. It’s directed by Alejandro Amenabar who directed the Open Your Eyes, The Others, and The Sea Inside and it stars Rachel Weisz. A slave starts following new religion Christianity while falling in love with his master, a famous atheist. These are stunning. They appear to be lit so that they look like Alma-Tadema paintings.

You made me smash my Lifesavers!

I rented this to watch with a friend, thinking we might find a guilty pleasure movie. I hadn’t really thought this would be very good but Anna Faris grew on me in the ads.

The Basics: A sweet but vapid Playboy Bunny gets thrown out of the Playboy mansion, the only home she’s ever known. Through dumb luck (pun intended), she gets a job as a house mother at a sorority house populated by lovable losers whose charter is about to be taken away. Hilarity ensues, supposedly. Read more

Combine I, Robot with the Matrix and you’ve got Eagle Eye. Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) are swept up in the world of national secret intelligence and forced to carry out the orders of a mysterious female voice on every cellular and mobile device around them. Of course, they soon uncover a plot that threatens national security. I wonder if they thwart it? Read more